1 Peter 5:8, 1 Timothy 2:3-4

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Demons, are they real? What are they? Well, God in His word tells us that there are demons, and we often refer to them as evil angels. And we might wonder, well, where did they come from? Did God create them? Yes, he did create them, but it’s good to know he didn’t create them to be evil. He created them as he did the other angels. They were created all as angels. Angels of God created to serve him, to do his bidding as well.

But it’s clear from scripture that God created the angels to be similar to Adam and Eve, as in that they had a free will. They could choose to obey God or to choose to disobey God. And unfortunately, some of those angels chose to rebel against God. And we think about their ringleader, the devil or Satan, as he’s referred to, rose up to take God’s power, wanting it to be his very own and turned against God, and he brought with him many other evil angels that did the same. As a result, God had to send those angels out of heaven. They could no longer be in God’s perfect presence with him, and in fact, he created a place for them to be consigned to that place of hell. But for the time being, for now, he has allowed them to roam this earth until he chooses to destroy it.

One thing I said in there, though, was concerning the leader of the evil angels, the devil. You know, what about him? The Bible tells us this concerning the devil. It says

Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8)

In those words, God is telling us that the devil is on the attack. First of all, he’s our enemy and he’s trying to devour us. And how does he do that? Well, he does it by trying to tempt us to sin. You might wonder, though, what’s in it for the devil? Why is he trying to do with this? Is it just that misery loves company and he wants more people with him in hell? Well, it seems bigger than that. As you recall, I mentioned that the devil wants to overthrow God and he hates God. But he can’t because God is the creator of all things. God is far more powerful than the devil is. The devil can’t attack him directly. And so what does the devil do instead? He attacks what God wants.

The devil knows the will of God, that God wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:3-4) And so that’s why he seeks to tempt people, especially Christians, to lead them astray from their Savior and to bring them to be with him forever in hell. The amazing thing, though, is that God has defeated the devil and he has taken away all of his power. Maybe we can imagine a veterinarian when it comes to a fierce animal, maybe declawing that animal or defanging that animal. That’s basically what God has done when it comes to the devil. And he has done it through his son, Jesus Christ.

How did God take away the devil’s power? It was by sending Jesus to suffer and die for our sins on a cross. Now that those sins have been paid for, the devil has nothing to hang over our heads, no sin to say you deserve wrath and punishment for this. No. We can now say that sin has been paid for in Christ. You have nothing against me, devil. In fact, I have victory in Jesus because of what he has done for me.

Yes, it is good for us to know that demons exist, evil angels exist, and they are there, desiring to tempt us and lead us astray from God. And we need not fear them. We need not be afraid of them because God has overcome the devil and all evil angels. And even more, he has sent his angels to protect us against these evil forces, to keep us close to him and our Savior, Jesus forever. Amen.

Matthew 3:2-3, 1 Timothy 1:15

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I’m sure you’ve seen them in the stores, these things called Advent Calendars. And what are they? Well, they’re little things that you’d buy for a child, usually that help mark the days before Christmas. And there’s usually 25 doors, maybe on a cardboard front of this product, and they punch out one door every day. Maybe they get a little piece of chocolate inside the door, or maybe they get a little toy or a little prize. And it’s supposed to mark the days before Christmas as they’re getting ready for the coming of Christmas.

Now, don’t get me wrong, Advent Calendars are great. I just wonder if maybe they are misnamed. You know, why are they called Advent Calendars? Well, it’s good to note that the season or the time before Christmas in the church is a season called Advent. It’s a word that means coming. Of course, it refers to Jesus coming as a little baby when he’s born in the manger. And it’s a season of preparation for that coming, too. So it makes sense that maybe that they would use that name for these calendars, right? As they were preparing to celebrate Jesus birth.

But it’s also important to know the way in which Advent has traditionally been celebrated, or maybe it’s better to say observed by the church. The Advent season has historically been considered a season of repentance, much like Lent. It’s kind of strange to think about, isn’t it? To think about the weeks leading up to Christmas, to act the way that we do during Lent, maybe not eat meat, or maybe to refrain from certain things because we are focused on our sin?

But it’s important for us to have that sort of preparation when it comes to Christmas. Maybe consider one of the text that’s often used during the Advent season in the church, from Matthew chapter three, verses two and three, as it describes John the Baptist and the message that he came preparing people for Jesus ministry.

“Repent, because the kingdom of heaven is near!” Yes, this is he of whom this was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: A voice of one crying out in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord. Make his paths straight.” (Matthew 3:2-3)

Why would it be important to prepare for Jesus? Prepare for his coming with repentance? I want you to think about this. Why is Jesus so important to us? Why his birth is so important to us? Why do we celebrate so much at Christmas is because Jesus comes as a Savior from sin. In fact, the Apostle Paul wrote in First Timothy chapter one

This saying is trustworthy and worthy of full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,” (1 Timothy 1:15)

Yes, Christ Jesus came into the world. He was born into this world to save sinners and only sinners. He is only a Savior for those who have sinned. That, of course, includes all of us, doesn’t it? But we recognize the importance for us to see our sin. If we don’t see our sin, if we don’t apologize to God and repent to God of the things that we have done. If we say, I’ve done nothing wrong, there’s nothing for which I should repent, well, then we also don’t need a Savior. It’s important for us during the season of Advent, then, to prepare for Christ’s coming, not just with little calendars where we punch out the doors and we get a piece of chocolate, but especially to prepare for Jesus birth by repenting of our sins. It’s only by doing that, then we can truly appreciate what Jesus has come to do, that he has come, born a little baby placed in a manger as our Savior from sin. Amen.

1 Timothy 1:15, Luke 5:31

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How would you rank yourself on a scale of goodness? Or how would you even measure that scale? Would you compare yourself to the liars, the thieves, adulterers, the mass murderers and come out on top by comparison?

It can be easy to compare ourselves to other people, but it can also be dangerously unhealthy. The Apostle Paul, in his letter to Timothy, plays a sort of comparison game as well. He says

This saying is trustworthy and worthy of full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,” of whom I am the worst. (1 Timothy 1:15 EHV)

And Paul plays this comparison game with the rest of the world, and he concludes that he is the worst of sinners. And indeed, Paul was a pretty bad guy. He was a blasphemer, a persecutor and murderer of Christians. He was deserving of terrible punishment. And yet he is the exact person whom Christ Jesus came to save.

Whatever sins have caused you to feel like you are the worst. Whatever sins have caused you to compare yourself with others and fall short. Those are the sins that Christ Jesus came into this world to die for. My friends, Christ came into this world to save sinners. Even Jesus himself says

It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. (Luke 5:31 NIV)

Christ came to save the sick. He did not come into this world, die by punishment on the cross, and rise triumphantly from the dead, because you were so great, but because you weren’t. And through faith in Christ Jesus, he takes your worst title and he gives you his title of perfection. You are a child of God because of what Jesus has done for you. To God be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

1 Timothy 6:6-8

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What can’t you get enough of? For me, it’s the cheese biscuits at Red Lobster. When I order at Red Lobster, I am not only ordering constantly those baskets of cheese biscuits, but before I leave the restaurant, I am literally stuffing my pockets with those cheese biscuits. I can’t get enough.

How about in our life? What are the things we can’t get enough of? Paul says

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. (1 Timothy 6:6-8)

Will we, though? Will I really be content if I just have enough to survive? I don’t want to survive. I want to thrive. Today we tell ourselves that we have a right to happiness. We have a right to over abundance. I have a right to the big house, the car, the boat, the cabin, the lake, and the list of things I need to be happy goes on and on and on. And even if I don’t have enough to supply all those things, what I tend to do is put it on the credit card and pierce myself with more and more griefs. Why? All because I just can’t have enough.

It’s interesting, even the most pious among us, we might say that I don’t really need to be rich. I don’t need a lot out of life. I just want enough so I don’t have to always worry about my finances. I just want enough so that I can buy the things I need to get and not have to worry about running out of money in the bank. But it’s interesting, what are we really asking for? We’re asking for enough so I don’t have to ask God for my daily bread. I want enough so I can be comfortable enough to forget about God and not have to go to him day after day and ask him and trust in him to provide.

And what I find is nothing exposes that idolatry of our own goods and wealth more than economic hardship. Stock markets as they start to crash and as we look with question at our financial future. We start to worry. When Jesus talks about worry he directs his disciples to the birds. He says, aren’t these birds, aren’t these sparrows worth only a few pennies? And what Jesus is telling us is when we face hardship and we worry and we ask how much and we wonder about the cost of things Jesus is telling us, we’re really asking the wrong question. We really need to ask him how much are we worth?

And Jesus is always ready with that answer. Jesus tells us you are worth so much more. You are worth so much the Prince of Heaven left heaven’s throne to come down here. Jesus took and embraced our poverty. He wore the rags of our sins to give us the riches of his righteousness. You are worth so much to Jesus he suffered and died on the cross and laid down his life to make you his own.

If that isn’t enough, the Bible promises that God wants to open His pierced hands and satisfy the desires of every living thing. You hear that? Jesus wants to satisfy your desire. And what’s amazing about this is every example from the Bible where God gives in his abundance. God doesn’t just give enough, he gives an over abundance, whether it’s the manna from heaven, the quail, the water from the rock, the widow’s flower and oil, the great catch a fish, the wine in Cana, feeding of the 5000. Or even the forgiveness of sins.

God doesn’t just give enough, he gives more than enough. He gives in abundance. He satisfies the desires of every living thing. And the reason God does that is he wants us to lift up our eyes away from all the things of this world and to fasten our minds and our hearts for our souls to hunger after the bread of life from heaven. The bread of this world, even the cheese biscuits at Red Lobster go bad. But Jesus is the bread that endures to eternal life. And in heaven, he’ll open the great treasuries of his heart to satisfy the desires of every living thing, to satisfy your desires for all eternity. This is what we pray for when we fold our hands and pray. Give us this day our daily bread. Amen.

1 Timothy 4:7

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Today, I want to share with you one short verse from First Timothy, chapter four. This is from Paul’s letter to a young pastor. He’s encouraging him not to be persuaded or swayed by worldly myths, not to be persuaded and swayed by hypocrisy or by false teachers, but to stand in the truth of God’s Word, to use that as his foundation for everything that he says and everything that he does. He says in First Timothy Chapter four verse seven

Pay no attention to worldly silly myths, rather, train yourself for godliness. (1 Timothy 4:7)

Now, we know that with the advent of the Internet that we have an endless supply of worldly, silly myths that we could investigate, that we can invest time in, to trying to discover the truth, trying to uncover what’s actually happening. And there’s a big temptation for us in this for any range of ideas or topics like politics or aliens or Bigfoot or the End of the World and signs of the end times. And the pursuit for truth is commendable. It’s a good thing to try to uncover the truth, especially when it impacts innocent people. But we also have to be careful. This can’t become the essence of what we do. This can’t become the sole thing that we stand on. We can’t get so distracted by trying to figure out what is real and what’s not real, that we forget about what we know is true. The foundation, the source of all truth in God’s Word.

There we know that Jesus died for us. There we are told that he loved us so much that he came into the world to redeem us, to win for us the forgiveness of all of our sins. Now, instead of worrying about what might be true, Paul says to train for godliness. He says to let the thing, the foundation of our life be His Word, to let it dwell in us richly and let it permeate into everything that we do. To continue to learn more about what Jesus has done for us, to continue to remind ourselves of the Gospel that Jesus Christ is our Redeemer, that He lay down His life for us. That in the end, all the truth will be revealed. That he will lay down, lay out everything that anyone has ever done wrong, and that justice will be served.

But thankfully, that justice was served not to us, but to our Savior. He took on our sin on the cross and paid for all of those things that we’ve done wrong so that we can find redemption in him. Paul’s encouragement to Timothy is his encouragement to you. Have nothing to do with silly worldly myths that they have no impact on our life. But build your heart, your life, your foundation of everything that you believe on God’s Word, knowing that it is the source of truth for now and forever, that it opens up the gates of eternal life for you. Amen.

Let’s pray. Dear God, Heavenly Father, we thank you for the truth of your word. We know that you are the same yesterday, today, and forever. That your word remains forever. We ask that you would enable us to build our life on this, on what we know is true. On that thing that never changes. To find our motivation and our hope and our joy in the knowledge that you have redeemed us as your dear children, in Jesus name, we pray. Amen.

Matthew 7:7, 1 Timothy 2:3-4

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Over the course of my ministry, I have often asked people about their personal devotional lives, and many people will give the response pastor, I just don’t spend enough time in God’s Word. I’d like to spend more. Other people say they have a certain routine, a certain time of day, where they open up their devotion books or their Bibles to spend time in God’s Word. I think perhaps the most puzzling response that I get from people, though, is when they tell me, Well, Pastor, I pray all the time. I speak to God every day. The reason I am so puzzled by that response is because I wonder if they have a misunderstanding concerning prayer.

Prayer is a way in which we can speak to God. In fact, God encourages us to do so. He encourages us to pray continually. Jesus himself said,

Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking, and it will be opened for you. (Matthew 7:7)

Through our prayers, we speak to God. But God doesn’t speak to us through them. Now I know there’s many people that feel that God maybe speaks to them in a variety of ways. Maybe God puts a thought in their mind, or maybe they can claim to even hear God’s voice audibly, or maybe have claimed to see visions of angels. And God has given them a special message through that angel. Certainly we see miraculous things like that that have occurred in the Bible. However, God doesn’t promise to speak to us in those ways. He has, however, promised to speak to us through his word.

Through his word he promises to tell us what we need to know. Through his word he tells us what he wants for us and for our lives. Think of that passage from First Timothy Chapter two verses three and four that says,

God, our Savior wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:3-4)

The Scriptures tell us plainly, God wants everyone to be saved. He wants everyone to know Jesus as their Savior. He wants you to know Jesus. He wants you to know His forgiveness. He wants you to be with Him forever in heaven. The Scriptures also tell us concerning God’s will, that it is God’s will, that you be sanctified. God wants us to live holy lives, and He has given us His Holy Spirit to help us to do that as he guides us with His Word.

You know, so often, I think in this day and age, there’s a lot of people that are faced with many difficult decisions, especially Christians, and they wonder, which way does God want me to go? Which way is he directing me this way or that way? And so maybe they look for some sort of sign in their own life or they maybe wait for maybe a voice that they might hear or a feeling they might have. Where does God want us to go, though? Where does he speak to us? Where does he communicate to us? Through his word.

How important it is for us to go back to that word, especially when we’re facing a decision, this or that. To say is one of those options a sin? If it is, God tells us clearly. I don’t want you to sin. It’s a we know that options are out of the question. God doesn’t want us to do that. Sad to say, though, so often we follow our own sinful flesh instead of God and what He says in his word. We merely want to say, well, I had this feeling. Was it actually God speaking to you? What does his word say? How does this word guide you? May God help us to understand His will for our own lives through his word, and also let us understand the importance of not just coming to God in prayer on a regular basis, but also being fed by that word. That word that assures us of our forgiveness and of God’s love for us. And Christ assures us that we are His dear children. That word that guides us in our own lives to live lives of gratitude according to his commands. Yes. May God bless our study of his word. Amen.

1 Timothy 1:15

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How can you tell if people are good and bad? I think it’d be nice if there was some kind of a meter. You met somebody new, and as you walked up to them, the meter would go good or to the bad. It would be nice because then you could think about how they’re going to be helping you. Are they going to be trusting or are they going to be somebody you can’t trust? Or is it going to be somebody that is going to harm you?

Now, sometimes we think we can run into people and say, Yeah, I think they’re probably bad because they’re getting punished. Maybe they’re even getting sent to prison. Would you call the Apostle Paul someone, good or bad?

Before Paul believed in Jesus, he called himself good. He thought he was even pleasing to God, and yet he was hurting people who believed in Jesus as the Savior. He thought he was actually doing God a favor by having them arrested and doing things like putting them in prison or hurting them or even having some killed. He even was so zealous to do what he thought was good that he went to another city to try to find more Christians who believed in Jesus and stop them. But

Jesus stopped him on the way and told them that what he was doing was evil, that it wasn’t good at all, and that instead he needed to be sorry for his sins. Paul repented and he trusted in Jesus’ forgiveness. And Jesus did totally forgive him. And then He told him that He was even going to go out and be a missionary and do good to bring real blessings to other people.

Now you would think that the Apostle Paul, as he now is a Christian, would think of himself. Well, now I’m good. But actually he thought just the opposite. He wrote in first Timothy chapter one, verse 15.

This saying is trustworthy and worthy of full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,” of whom I am the worst. (1 Timothy 1:15)

What about us? Are we good people or are we bad people? Well, as we think about how other people may judge us, we may say, Yeah, we’re pretty good as compared to others. But when we think about what God has done in setting the standard for what is good. We’re not good. He wants us to be perfect. And rather than perfect, we’re falling way short of that. Instead of helping people, instead of being kind through our words and actions, we’re not doing that at all or we’re not doing it enough. We also, like Paul, deserved to be punished for the things that we have done. But God, out of love for us, instead of punishing us, sends his Son into this world.

And you might want to ask, was Jesus good? How do we know he was good? Well, of course, he was always helping people, showing kindness to them, telling the truth. He did everything according to the will of God, His Heavenly Father, even God from heaven one time said, This is my son. I’m well pleased with him. He is good.

And yet out of love for us he had his perfect son take the punishment that we deserve for all the bad things we’ve done. But then Jesus rose from the dead so that it showed everything was right and everything was good. And all who trust in him can now be good. Not on their own, but from the very goodness of Christ himself.

And so if someone should ask you, are you good or are you bad? The answer’s yes. Without Christ, we can’t do anything good according to God’s standard. But with Christ, God sees us as perfect and we will enjoy that goodness forever. Let’s pray.

Lord God, your word tells us that we have all sinned against you. We cannot make up for the bad we do. Please forgive us in Christ and replace our sins with His goodness. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.

2 Corinthians 8:9, 1 Timothy 6:7

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Our reading for today is taken from 2 Corinthians chapter 8 and then verse 9, Saint Paul says

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9)

A number of years ago, I was in Ukraine and attended a funeral procession, and as we came into the cemetery, there were two sides to the cemetery. The one was for the rich and the other for the very poor. On the side of the rich, there were some very large stones and monuments and on the side for the poor people, many of them just had small wooden crosses. In fact, some of the graves you could tell were homemade and had nothing really on them. It was quite a stark contrast between the rich and the poor.

When we think about the word poverty, probably most of us Americans don’t really think of ourselves living in poverty. Even our standards for poverty here in the United States are different than around the world. Poverty, however, is a word that God uses to describe our condition, and our situation in this world regardless of how much money we may have. Job put it this way,

For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. (1 Timothy 6:7)

That describes the poverty that we have because of the reality of death that all of us have to face. But God didn’t want to leave us in that condition. And so he decided out of love for us to take action.

Many years ago, there was a king in England by the name of Edward VIII from the House of Windsor, and he had been installed in 1936 to be king. But he abdicated the throne and gave it up in order to marry a woman that they would not allow to be queen. And many people were so shocked by this that he would be willing to give up so much and such power in that kingdom in order to simply be with his bride.

It’s hard for us to comprehend the great sacrifice that our Lord Jesus had to make in order to come into this world to rescue us. The text says, for your sakes, he became poor. Think of that. The most exalted Son of God who rules all things and has all power at his fingertips chooses instead to lower himself down because of his great love for us and because of wanting to get us out of this situation of poverty that we face because of the reality of sin and death in our world.

Imagine a group of children playing the game monopoly, and suddenly a billionaire sits in at the table with them and starts to play with them, and instead of using the pretend money that’s there around the table, he starts taking out real money and starts using real millions of dollars on the table with them. When we think about the wealth of this world, it’s absolutely nothing compared to what God could have and what God does have. God’s way of measuring what wealth is is a completely different standard from what we live by in this world. And when we finally enter heaven by faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior, we will find out just how different God’s standards are of wealth.

Listen to our text again

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9)

May God preserve us in this faith in this Savior, so that someday we can find out what true wealth and riches are in the Kingdom of God. Amen.

1 Timothy 6:6-8

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Our reading today is from 1 Timothy Chapter 6 verses 6 through 8,

But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. (1 Timothy 6:6-8)

The day that my mom passed away, I had just come back to my family’s house from the hospital. Earlier that day, my mom had spent a little bit of time wondering where she got a piece of Tupperware that was sitting on the counter. Someone had brought her some food at one point, and this Tupperware was sitting there and she couldn’t remember who it belonged to. And so she kept asking my father and he didn’t know either. Well, later on that day, my mom had a heart attack and ended up dying very unexpectedly. And that night, coming back from the hospital, my eyes were all still full of tears. I came into the kitchen door and I looked on the counter and here was this stupid piece of Tupperware. This piece of plastic sitting there. And part of me wanted to just take it and throw it across the room.

But I started thinking to myself, think of the things in my life that can demand my time and attention that really, in the end, are so meaningless. Now, my mother was a wonderful Christian woman who loved her Savior and loved God’s Word. That very night that she passed away, we had a nice family devotion. But at the same time, that piece of Tupperware to me made me think about how easy it is for me to let the stuff that we have in this life and the things that we can get be so important to us and sometimes consume our time.

In the text in front of us. God would have us develop a heavenly perspective, a heavenly way of looking at all of the things he gives us in this life and how we use those things, as well as the time that we have in life. So God would have us, as believers in Christ, view our lives from the perspective of eternity. There are a lot of important things for us to do in life, especially as parents, when our children are little. There’s so many things that can demand our time and attention, and it all matters in some way, shape, or form. And yet we also recognize that up and above all of those things of earthly life are the most important matters. That of our spiritual lives and making sure that we love our Savior and take time for his Word.

If your child’s batting average means more to you than making sure that they know who their Savior is, maybe it’s time to take a little bit different look and perspective on our lives. Years ago when I was serving a church, there was a man in the neighborhood who had a beautiful yard, gorgeous shrubs and flowers, and he was out there working on it all the time. I happen to know his wife and it frustrated her that he never wanted to go to church. And I used to think I wonder what it will be like for him on Judgment Day, talking to God about how he used his life and his time and the blessings God had given him. Maybe trying to impress God with his shrubs, trying to impress God with his flowers.

Think how meaningless everything is going to seem on that final day if we don’t really have faith in our hearts and Christ Jesus. Saint Paul talks about what God has prepared for us through the work of his Son. Our Lord Jesus Christ came into this world not to give us better things in this life, although there are great blessings being a Christian in this life, but to get us out of this life, to get us out of our graves, ultimately to the perfect home that he has won for us in heaven. And what a blessing that he’s given us the gift of faith. That through faith in Christ who forgives even our materialism inside of us, this wonderful faith that we have will take us someday, on Judgment Day, through the gates of heaven to live eternally with our Lord.

So Saint Paul says to us, again, godliness with contentment is great gain. May God teach us to be content with the blessings we have in this life and to always view them from the eternal life he’s given us freely through our Savior. Amen.

1 Timothy 6:6-8

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What would it take for you to be truly happy? I think all of us probably have a number of things that we have in the back of our mind that we think of that would make us truly happy. Maybe it’s if a certain event occurred in our lives. We graduated, or we got the right job. If we got married, or had children, or moved to a certain location, or maybe retired. Maybe it’s a list of things that if you just had those things then you’d be truly happy. The perfect car, perfect house, whatever else you might want or wish for.

The question is would that thing actually make you truly happy? I’ve heard it said before that a goal of advertising is really to convince someone that they need the company’s product. To make them feel as if there’s some sort of void in their life that can only be filled by what the company has to offer. But what happens when you buy that thing that’s advertised? Well we purchase it and like a child we maybe play with it for the first couple of days or weeks, but eventually we grow bored with it. We want something else. We want something new. It doesn’t give us the happiness that it promises.

In 1 Timothy Chapter 6 verses 6 through 8, Paul writes this:

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we certainly cannot take anything out. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be satisfied. (1 Timothy 6:6-8)

God tells us not to conform our lives to the rest of the world that seeks after possessions for its happiness, but to turn to him. He says godliness with contentment is great gain. He’s not saying if you be a godly person, well then God is going to prosper you and you’re going to have happiness in this life. Rather he’s pointing us to true godliness. The faith in our Savior Jesus Christ that in him, we really lack nothing. In him we have true happiness. In him we find contentment.

If you think about it for your own life what can be greater than what Jesus has to offer? Jesus, who offers us the forgiveness of all of our sins. Promises peace for us right now that we can know that we’re right with God. He’s not holding anything against us. Jesus, who gives us meaning and purpose in this life not to simply make as much money as we can to get the most stuff, but to serve him. Who lived and died for us. What could be greater than the happiness he has promised us forever in heaven? As he points to the eternal pleasures that will be ours there. Nothing is greater than those things.

Yes, if we have godliness, trust in our Savior Jesus Christ in contentment, we truly have something wonderful and great. That same God really has promised to provide for our needs here in this life. He’s promised to give us our food and clothing. To take care of us. He’s also said I will never leave you and I will never forsake you.

Rather than turning to all sorts of products or events or things in this world for our happiness, how important it is to find our happiness in Christ. Who overflows with incredible credibly happy things. Who comforts our souls and soothes our consciences. Who gives us purpose and meaning in this life who gives us the sure hope of eternal pleasures at his right hand forever in heaven. Yes, in Christ we can find happiness. Be content even in this life as he continues to provide for our every need. Amen.

1 Timothy 2:4, John 3:16

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I want you to just step back for a moment and think about what are the facts concerning this corona virus? What do we know? We know that people are getting it at an alarming rate. We know that some people are dying. We know that the stock market seems to be crashing and life all around us seems to be shutting down. So many people are perhaps even losing their income and their jobs as a result of all the fear and panic.

We can also think about the result of what we see in the grocery stores. Those empty shelves, the run on toilet paper, and hand sanitizer, and hand soap and all of those things. As Christians that’s good for us to step back from all of those concerns that we see and to really take a different perspective when it comes to these things.

What do we know as Christians? We know that God loves us, don’t we. We know that God loves us because he sent his Son Jesus Christ to die on a cross to pay for all of our sins. And so we know that such a God, if he would do a tremendous thing like that, if he cares about us enough to send his holy and perfect Son to pay for our sins, certainly he cares about us even now. We can trust that this God will take care of us as well.

So in the midst of fear and panic we know the incredible love of God for every one of us. God encourages us to place our faith in him at such a time as this. To trust that he is going to get us through this. To trust that he ultimately has our best good in mind to bring us all to heaven to be with him forever. God tells us in His Word,

He wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:4)

God earnestly wants you to be saved to have eternal life with him forever in heaven. So this is perhaps a time not to freak out and to panic but a time to return to God and His word and to his promises. And know that he loves you and that he has shown that love in Jesus Christ our Lord.

What an amazing treasure we have just in that simple verse and John 3:16 For God so loved the world. The world. We think of our worlds all in turmoil with with the corona virus and everything that he gave his only begotten Son that he gave Jesus to us as a gift that whoever — no one’s excluded, right. Whoever believes in him shall not perish shall not die eternally and be punished for their sins forever in hell, but have eternal life. An incredible treasure we have in God our Savior Jesus Christ.

What hope and confidence that gives us especially as we face so many worries and concerns even death itself. This place your trust and faith in your God especially now that.

1 Timothy 1:15

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A number of years ago I remember seeing the abbreviation Xmas for Christmas. It seems like I don’t see that around very much anymore. And I wonder why. I wonder if maybe Christian sentiment has turned against that term and kind of viewed it as taking the Christ out of Christmas. And so haven’t wanted to see stores use it or anybody else.

It’s a bit ironic though, if you think about it, because the name Christ or the word Christ in the Greek language begins with a letter that looks almost identical to an English X. So really it’s not that inappropriate for us to call it Xmas referring to Christos or Christ. So this time of year though it is important for us to remember to keep the Christ in Christmas.

Why? The word Christ in the Greek language refers to Messiah. Refers to the Anointed One of God. How important is he? Well in our lesson for today. In First Timothy chapter 1 verse 15 that tells us this.

This saying is trustworthy and worthy of full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,” of whom I am the worst. (1 Timothy 1:15)

This time of year were filled with such nostalgia and joy as we like to set up our decorations, as we like to go shopping for our gifts, as we hear the Christmas music, as we bake special goodies, as we spend time with friends and family. But the real reason for us to have joy this time of year is because of the birth of the Christ. The one who came into the world to save sinners like us.

It’s been said that this time of year brings out the best in people. And how true it is as we see people acting in a much more kind, and generous, and selfless way toward each other. If only it was this way for the other 11 months of the year. We know what happens after Christmas so often we slide right back into that selfishness and that greed and that unloving attitude that we have. All of this of course is sin. This is the reason the Christ has come. Jesus came into the world to save sinners like you and me. People filled with sin and selfishness. He’s come to make us right with God so that we need not fear God’s judgment for our sin, but know that there is peace because of this little baby who was born in Bethlehem on Christmas.

Whether you call it Xmas or Christmas. To the Christ in Christmas. Especially focusing on him as your Savior from sin. That’s true reason to have joy this Christmas season, amen.